Claimer: My Blog, My POV

Occasionally, I will mention my job, my public service activities, and other aspects of my life to offer my readers a better perspective on where I'm coming from. But to be clear:

"The views that I express represent my own opinions, based on my own education and experience, not the opinions of any other entity, party, or group to which I belong. I give these opinions in my individual capacity, as a private citizen, and as someone who gives a good gosh darn about his community, his country, and the truth."

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Thursday, April 1, 2010

Republicans Get All the Punchlines This Week

I hate it when the Republicans get all the good punchlines.

Pastor Steve Hickey now gets to joke about how Dr. Kevin Weiland has assumed the title for shortest South Dakota Congressional campaign ever (not to mention most signatures collected from eager party activists whose hopes are then single-handedly crushed).

GOP House candidates R. Blake Curd and Kristi Noem pile on with the same criticism. There is a difference between voting against a bill and later promising not to vote to repeal it... but that difference is so thin and the promise so empty (SHS will not face a repeal vote this session, and even if she survives November, the 112th Congress is unlikely to seriously consider repeal... and President Obama would veto it anyway) that I'd just make an ass of myself trying to defend it.

--------------------------Update 10:31 CDT: No punchlines here: Dr. Weiland tells Kevin Woster that pressure from Washington and his own sense of family values caused him to make the wrenching call Tuesday afternoon. And before he quit, Weiland said directly to SHS, "No, you’re wrong. You’re on the wrong side of history. This is human rights for health care."

10 comments:

"First, my party has no one--none, zilch, nada, bupkis--to run against Sen. Thune in his reelection bid this fall. I'm not sure that has ever happened, that a major party candidate for U.S. Senate won by default in South Dakota. But it's going to happen."

He didn't post my blistering commentary.

Suffice it to say that hearing Nina Totenberg announcing the Court's decision in Bush v. Gore is a far darker day in nearly every other South Dakota Democrat's memory.

I swear, driving into this state is like passing into an alternate universe.

Dang it, yes, Larry: somebody should have run against Thune. And I'm as guilty as every other chicken/cash-poor Dem for not taking up that challenge.

But Weiland's point of no return should have been when he saw he had 1200 signatures and rising, not when he had a box of 3834 signatures sitting in the parking lot a hundred yards from Sec. Nelson's OK stamp. Filing, running, and letting the primary process play out would have united the party in honest conversation. Caving to pressure from Washington and disappointing 3834 signers has only exposed us to more division, not to mention more ribbing from the GOP.

Nonetheless, there may be some merit to the state party's focus on in-state races. Maybe we will foster that crop of local Dems we need to fill the upper slots on the ballot next time around.

Yes, Matt, because throwing spitballs from the sidelines is so much more effective.

Larry, Independents have until June 8 to file petitions. They need 3356 signatures. Any registered voter, indep or otherwise, may sign an independent's petition, but the 3834 who signed for Weiland cannot now sign for an indep House candidate (SDCL 12-6-8).

If you think Kevin Weiland's short blitz didn't energize democrats and cause them to evaluate their beliefs, you're mistaken.

I remember Rick Weiland talking about how, when he ran for Congress, detractors peer inside every orifice, as far back as they can look, and the effect of that privacy invasion can be overwhelming to your family.

I think Kevin made the right decision, only because he was not adequately prepared for a major campaign.

Douglas, the statute says "The provisions of this section shall not prohibit a person registered with party affiliation from signing either a petition nominating an independent or a nonpolitical candidate for office if he has not previously signed a petition for that office to be filled." Maybe there's some qualifier elsewhere, but this law appears strictly to the act of signing. Once you've signed, you've signed. The legal status of the petition post-signing appears to be immaterial. I agree; that could use some amending for situations like this, where my guy bails and I might want to support another guy.